The Right Breed of Monsters
by Exilo
Summary: Sequel to "Project: Orphan". Following their escape from Iscariot, the two young monsters have no clue what to do, save keep pressing forward. Birthday gift to Pae, the greatest woman i have ever known. Oneshot, R


**If I could be like uber sappy before I start a fic in the most violent anime I've ever seen…Today is Pae's birthday. Pae is the most important person in my life. I wake up every morning, thinking about her. I go to bed every night thinking about her. I dream about the day we will meet, I dream about the night we first met. The time she randomly reviewed one of my works back when I was writing SSB stuff. When she casually asked if I ever RP (which up to then I never had and was really weary about it). Pae is the most important person in my life, I can say that with the utmost amount of confidence. Today is the most important day of my life: it's the day that Pae was brought into this world, among other things. ****I love you so much Pae. I love you with all my heart and I always will. Happy birthday, and this is for you.**

**This is a sequel to "Project: Orphan". I would strongly say read that one first.**

_The Right Breed of Monsters_

"The sun will be up soon," Alto said, from her perch on Bass' furry back.

"So? I'm not tired." That was a lie, but no sense in making Alto worry.

"But…the sun. It's bad."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. It's bad. And…I don't want to see it, alright? Can we just find someplace to rest?"

Bass nodded, and looked around. With the moon's glow cutting through the trees, he could see rather well, and quite far actually. He kept walking, though he could feel Alto's fear rising as the twilight hours started to melt away. Her grip on his fur kept getting tighter. And as she lay down fuller, he could feel her heartbeat rising bump by bump against his back. He did just want to lay down and relax for a time; his feet were starting to hurt and his eyes were heavy, but he kept on forward.

And finally, he came to a clearing with a cabin in the center. Alto perked up when Bass stopped to sniff the air (perhaps she had been asleep), and actually heeled Bass in the side to send him forward. He gave a warning growl, before lowering his snout and sniffing more carefully. There was a trace of human, but it was weak and faded, and here and there a trace of a smell like Alto's, but nothing strong enough to worry about. And the first rays of sun crept over the trees, causing Alto to whimper. So Bass quickly padded up to the cabin's front door, only to find it locked. Growling, he lifted his head and bit the door knob off, but still it wouldn't open, even when he pounded it with his head. He decided it must have been a deadbolt.

"Bass…" Alto whimpered.

Bass felt the first rays of warmth hit his tail, and smelled cooked meat, and heard Alto scream. Growling, he shifted, putting Alto off his back and in one fluid motion turned and darted back the way he had come. Breaking and turning back to the house, Bass charged with all his might, eyes closed so nothing would make him pause. Running head first into a door was a bit scary actually, and he needed momentum and weight. And when he felt the impact of the door, and the whole thing yield, he felt himself crash into the shaded interiors of the house.

It took a time for Bass to shake the spots from his eyes, but soon enough he heard crying. Opening his eyes weakly, he looked to the source, and found Alto inside the shade and out of the sun, but her bare back and arms and legs and rump were smoking and charred black. Bass understood why she was afraid of the sun now.

The house had rather heavy drapes that Bass managed to close by biting the tips and dragging them. The house was large, having an upstairs and a basement, and other rooms than this one, but Bass didn't care. When it was sufficiently dark, he was left with the broken down door.

"Alto, I need your help."

Alto sniffled and cringed, looking to him. The skin had started to stitch itself closed, but how painful must that be? There were tears in her eyes as she stood, then as she fell back to the ground whimpering loudly. As she squatted by the door to lift it, Bass could see the muscles under her burned skin stretch and tear what had healed, but save a whimper she made not a sound. Bass walked over and bit the other side of the door. Together, they lifted, and managed to wedge the door back into its frame.

Bass settled at a spot in about the center of the room, laying on his side and softly Alto came next to him and lay as well. Before either could say anything, they had fallen asleep.

***

Bass woke up to a scream, and a wailing pain in his right shoulder. He was afraid that he had rolled over and squished little Alto, and leapt to his feet. But Alto was fine, standing a foot or two away, and brandishing a fire-poker as a weapon. He was confused about that, and voiced his confusions with a low groan as he rubbed at his head. "What did you do with Bass?!" she screamed, swinging again, and hitting Bass in the same sore shoulder. He gave a yap and stumbled over his own feet. Landing on his back, he lay sprawled as she swung again, this time whacking an outstretched arm.

"Alto!" he begged. "Alto…stop fucking hitting me!"

He had almost expected a final blow to his skull that would finish him off, but no. Alto stopped, staring. He said again, "Alto, please."

"Bass?" She squatted down to his level. "Base…you look different. What happened? You…you're different. You…" She turned and scurried to a table, and took a small hand mirror off the table. Kneeling before him, she offered the mirror.

Bass had seen himself in reflective surfaces on occasion, back at the place he had woken up in. He had seen his long nose and pointed ears and fur covered face. But that was not who he saw. His face was bare, and his skin was a healthy tan color. His ears were closer to his head. His nose was short and stubby. His hair was long and the color of his fur, but only on his crown and running over his shoulders. He was closer to Alto than how he had been, if he had to make a comparison. But his bones seemed to be a bit stronger, his jaw a bit thicker and his cheek bones a bit rougher.

"What happened?" Alto asked, touching Bass' shoulder gently. He yapped in pain, as after being hit there several times, even the soft touch hurt.

"I don't know…This…must have happened when I was sleeping, I guess." He rolled onto his hands and knees, but finding that awkward, tried how Alto stood, and that was better. She was still a fair bit smaller than him. His torso was thicker and longer than hers by many measures. His arms were larger. His legs were larger. He squatted down to a better height.

"The sun is still up," Alto said, and Bass noticed she was looking at the ground instead of him. Then she looked at the blinds instead of him. Then the ceiling.

"What's wrong?"

"You…you're naked."

"So? I've always been naked."

"But you had fur before."

"Well…you're naked."

"Well I don't have to look at myself!" She sighed. "There's just…go find some pants! Or grow fur again."

Bass sighed. "Well, I don't know what happened to make me look like this. I don't know if I can change back. And I don't have any pants. Maybe there are some clothes around here we could wear. Stay here, other windows might be opened."

Alto frowned, but nodded. She went to sit by the couch, still cradling her fire poker, while Bass went up the staircase. They creaked louder under his two feet. He found his weight unevenly distributed, and missed having four legs, and wondered if taking another nap would change him back. Certainly worth a try, he was still tired, but he probably should get dressed just so Alto could look at him again. At the top of the stairwell was a stubby hallway, with only two doors, one on the left and one on the right. The left door was locked. The right one was open. Inside seemed to be a bedroom. There was a body on the floor, a few steps away, as well as a shotgun lying closer. It was the shotgun that Bass first took interest in. It was a double barrel, though one of the shots had been spent, judging by the down hammer. It felt good to hold the shotgun, so Bass put it in his left hand as his right poked the body of the woman. She didn't move. Bass set the shotgun down and used both hands and his legs to roll the woman onto her back.

The woman had ghastly grey skin, devoid of any color. Her eyes were sunken deep into her skull. Her skin almost didn't fit right. It was a bit wrinkled and loose, most noticeably on her cheek bones, since her cheeks were sucked into her mouth in an odd sort of fishy look. And her neck had a deflated balloon quality.

Deciding she was dead, Bass went to the draws and rummaged through them. There were clothes, but most seemed too big for him or Alto, so he closed it and turned to see the woman clumsily getting to her feet. Noticing Bass, she hissed, and began shuffling and crashing to the boy, who backed up until he hit the draw. When she lunged forward, he dove to the side and out of the way. The clumsy dead woman crashed into the dresser. Bass lifted the shotgun and quickly fired, and shot the woman in the back, which made her roar and thrash.

A horrible thought crossed Bass' mind. He turned and bolted out the door and to the stairwell, but something smashed into his back. He fell forward, smashing against the edge of the stairs, hitting his jaw and feeling it break and teeth knock loose. He rolled again, hitting his back. He shifted and hit his left side, before lying in a heap at the base of the stairs.

The woman shuffled down the stairwell, moaning, jaw hanging loose and eyes dark and glazed over. Bass closed his eyes, tears filling the lids, waiting for the ghoul to finish him, when he heard Alto scream. He opened his eyes to see her swing her firepoker into the ghoul's back. The hook caught in the ghoul's spine. With all her strength, Alto yanked back, pulling the ghoul away from Bass.

Bass cringed, standing. His body ached. His mouth was metallic and salty with blood, and teeth rattled in his mouth. They washed down his throat and made him feel sick in his belly. There was a gash over his eye. Blood oozed down and stung his eyes, but he could still see the ghoul flare and strike Alto across the jaw and send her to the ground.

Bass came behind the ghoul and wrapped his arms around her chest. Yanking (Bass realized even in this form, he was quite strong) the woman back, Alto stumbled away. "Get into the sun!" she shouted. Bass didn't ask why. He dragged the ghoul, kicking and screaming and clawing to the back of the house. The sun was setting in the west. Bass crashed through the back door and twisted, and the sun hit the ghoul dead on.

It was an awful sight. The ghoul caught fire, her bare flesh first; face and hands, but the flame spread to her nightgown. Bass howled as he felt the flesh burn off his arms like wax on a candle, but he tightened his grip and took another step into the sun, and the flames exploded all the more intense. Bass dropped the body to the ground. It didn't move, but the flames continued burning, and Bass guessed they would keep burning until there was nothing left to burn. He turned, and stumbled into the house. He tripped over his feet, but Alto caught him and held him in a hug. It seemed she was stronger than she looked too. She was crying now. Bass could feel tears on his shoulder.

She helped him back into the living room, and settle down, arms still tight around him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Bass slowly nodded. "You," he said. "You saved me."

Alto gave a soft giggle. "It was nothing Bass." She gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "I barely did anything. The sun should be down soon. We can keep going west. If you want. Or stay here. You can rest. You need the rest."

Bass nodded.

"I am…not sure this is the right word. But there is that little voice saying this." She nuzzled into his neck. "I…love you Bass. I really…love you."

Bass had his own little voices. They got stronger as time went on, but they must not have been as strong as Alto's. Never the less, there was one in his head, and it told him to say, "I love you too."


End file.
